Auto pipe musical instrument

ABSTRACT

A musical instrument which is played by being held in the mouth, without the requirement of being hand-held. The pitch of the instrument is determined by the free length of a reed, which is varied by spring mounted piston. Pushing the piston, by the tongue, acts to rotate the rollers about which the reed is fastened, so as to shorten the free length of the reed and to so raise the note produced by the reed when it vibrates in the air stream produced by the player.

O Umted States Patent 1 1111 3,745,871

Diez 1 July 17. 1973 AUTO PIPE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT 1,054,793 3/1913 Rieder 24/330 x Inventor: Louis Diez, Brooklyn, NY. 2,551,367 5/1951 Fahey 84/380 [73] Assignee: The Raymond Lee Organization, Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Inc., New York, N.Y. ;a part interest Assistant Examiner-Lawrence R. Franklin [22] Filed: y 10, 1972 Attorney-Howard I. Podell 211 Appl. No.: 270,047 57 ABSTRACT A musical instrument which is played by being held in [52] US. Cl 84/375, 84/330, 84/380 the mouth, Without he requirement of being hand- [51] Int. Cl. 610d 11/00 held The pitch of the instrument is determined y t [58] Field of Search 84/330, 375, 380, free length of a reed, which is varied y p g u d 34/334 piston. Pushing the piston, by the tongue, acts to rotate the rollers about which the reed is fastened, so as to [56] References Cit d shorten the free length of the reed and to so raise the UNITED STATES PATENTS note produced by the reed when it vibrates in the air 341,670 5/1886 Manh. 84/375 stream Pmduced by the play 998,985 7/ 191] Proctor 84/330 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures AUTO PIPE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

This invention relates to a musical instrument which may be played in the mouth, without the requirement of being hand-held.

An advantage of the instrument is that it is held in the mouth by means of a brace and by means of the teeth of the player. The pitch of the instrument may be varied by the pressure of the tongue against a spring mounted piston, said piston acting to shorten the free length of a musical reed, when the piston is compressed by the tongue of the player.

Pressure against the spring mounted piston acts to move the piston and to rotate a pair of rollers which fasten about the musical reed, shortening the free length of the musical reed when the piston is compressed by pressure of the tongue of the player. Reduction of the free length of the musical reed acts to increase the pitch of the instrument produced by the air which is blown by the player past the vibrating musical reed. Relaxation of pressure by the player against the piston permits the piston spring to move the piston so as to rotate the rollers holding the musical reed and to lengthen the musical reed and thus lower the musical note produced by the instrument when air is blown past the said musical reed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWIING:

The objects and features of the invention may be understood with reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the musical instrument being played by a performer;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section in elevation of the musical instrument; and

FIG. 3 is an end view of the musical instrument.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

Turning now descriptively to the drawing, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates the auto pipe mounted in brace 11 which rests on the shoulders 12 of the performer 15. The performer 15 is able to varythe pitch of the instrument 10 without the use of his hands, which may be engaged in the playing of another instrument.

As shown in FIG. 2-3, the mouthpiece of the instrument 10 is adaptable to being held by the teeth of the performer 15, with the free end 19 of piston 21 being forced by spring 22 into the performers mouth. A reed 26 is held by two rollers 24 and 25 at some point along the length thereof. Rollers 24 and 25 are rotatably mounted on shafts journaled in the body of instrument 10. Pressure of the tongue of the performer 15 against the tip 19 of the piston 21 moves the piston 21,

the roughened end 23 of which rests against roller 24. Rotation of roller 24 by the movement of engaged piston end 23 causes the tone producing reed 26 to be rolled between engaged rollers 24 and 25 and causing the free length of reed 26 to be shortened thus raising the pitch of the instrument 10, as the piston 21 is forced into the instrument against the spring pressure 22.

Relaxation of pressure by the performer 15 against the tip 19 of the piston permits the spring 22 to move the piston 21 out of the instrument, causing roller 24 to rotate causing the free length of reed 26 to be increased and thus lowering the pitch of the reed 26.

The instrument produces a musical note of the pitch determined by the free length of reed 26 when air is blown by the performer through vent 27 and passage 28 and out of passage 29 directly at the reed which is thus caused to vibrate.

The sound of the musical note produced may be amplified by the horn flare 31 at the open end of the instrument 10.

Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described herein, it is indicated that all matter contained herein is intended as illustrative and not as limiting in scope.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A musical instrument comprising a mouthpiece; a tubular body having a chamber therein, one end of said chamber being connected to said mouthpiece and the other end being open; a reed having a sound producing, vibrating end; means holding said reed in said chamber being capable of selectively varying the length of said vibrating end; means mounted in said mouthpiece and cooperating with said holding means for controlling said length varying capacity thereof, said controlling means having one end extending from said mouthpiece for actuation by the tongue of the player and the other end extending into said chamber; and a windpipe connecting said mouthpiece with said chamber for directing an air stream onto said vibrating end.

2. A musical instrument as in claim 1, wherein said holding means is a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on respective shafts journaled in said body, said reed being firmly held between said rollers, and said controlling means rotating at least one of said rollers when actuated by said tongue.

3. A musical instrument as in claim 2 wherein said controlling means is a piston with said one end spring biassed in the direction outwardly from said mouthpiece and with said other end in frictional contact with said one roller.

4. A musical instrument as in claim 3 wherein said open end of said body has a flared horn thereon.

5. A musical instrument as in claim 4 wherein an auxiliary support brace is mounted on the outside of said body, said support brace being adapted to rest against the shoulders of said player. 

1. A musical instrument comprising a mouthpiece; a tubular body having a chamber therein, one end of said chamber being connected to said mouthpiece and the other end being open; a reed having a sound producing, vibrating end; means holding said reed in said chamber being capable of selectively varying the length of said vibrating end; means mounted in said mouthpiece and cooperating with said holding means for controlling said length varying capacity thereof, said controlling means having one end extending from said mouthpiece for actuation by the tongue of the player and the other end extending into said chamber; and a windpipe connecting said mouthpiece with said chamber for directing an air stream onto said vibrating end.
 2. A musical instrument as in claim 1, wherein said holding means is a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on respective shafts journaled in said body, said reed being firmly held between said rollers, and said controlling means rotating at least one of said rollers when actuated by said tongue.
 3. A musical instrument as in claim 2 wherein said controlling means is a piston with said one end spring biassed in the direction outwardly from said mouthpiece and with said other end in frictional contact with said one roller.
 4. A musical instrument as in claim 3 wherein said open end of said body has a flared horn thereon.
 5. A musical instrument as in claim 4 wherein an auxiliary support brace is mounted on the outside of said body, said support brace being adapted to rest against the shoulders of said player. 